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China flag宇 Ю Yu
Can I say "very very ... " in English? In my mother tongue, we often say, e.g., "You look very very gorgeous!". We even triple the "very" sometimes. But when I typed it in MS-Word, the proofing tool suggested me delete the second "very". So is it wrong to double the "very" to show the emphasis? Then how do you express it correctly? Thanks.

Answers · 8

4
Yes you can, but in the written form you need to include a comma. So: You look very, very gorgeous. When some people are really angry, they may say "I am very, VERY angry". Or they may say "I am very, very sorry". MS Word accept 2 "very"'s if there is a comma, and it is fine in the spoken language as well. It shouldn't be used too often though, only when strong emotions are involved.
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谢谢,你的中文很棒 :D
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我的中文不太好但是我试一试。你可以说"我很饿","我非常饿"。 但是你不能说"我很饿死了"。"我非常饿死了"。是吧?英语是一样,你可以说"I am very hungry", "I am very very hungry"。但是你不能说"I am very starving", "I am extremely starving"。
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Very gorgeous is INCORRECT . :)
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In English there are two kinds of adjectives , normal adjectives and extreme adjectives . You can use very with normal adjective and can even use as many as you like to emphasize . But you cannot use very with extreme adjectives . Example 1: hungry (Normal) vs starving (Extreme) . Someone who hasn't eaten would be hungry . Someone w ho hasn't eaten for longer would be very hungry . Someone who hasn't eaten for even longer would be very very hungry etc etc . But someone who is about to die of hunger would be starving . (You can't get more hungry than this, therefore you can't use very .) More Examples : Pretty , very pretty , very very pretty etc etc gorgeous . You can't get any prettier than this so you can't say very gorgeous . Clean , very clean , very very clean etc etc spotless . You can't say very spotless . Normal adjectives (you can use very with these): tired , good , dirty , pretty , ugly , small , surprising , clean , funny , big , angry , hot , cold , old , hungry . Extreme adjectives (you can't use very with these): exhausted , fantastic , filthy , gorgeous , hideous , tiny , astounding , spotless , hilarious , huge , furious , boiling , freezing , ancient , starving . On a final note , "very" is not the only word that must follow these rules . Also words like : quite , rather , relatively , extremely , comparatively . These words can only go before Normal adjectives . :)

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